NCN LAX/BASKETBALL BLOG

Video highlights to come …

Enjoy Peekskill’s 13-point come from behind victory.

Shout out to Bryan Byrne for filming.

 

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Instead of pounding away on this keyboard and giving my thoughts on the game, I decided to just cut this video up and get it on the web.

Enjoy.

 

 Flash Video [4:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The following rankings are as of 12 p.m. Tuesday, December 25.

1) Peekskill (6-0) — Not the most aesthetically pleasing win over Wings, but Mookie threw down an alley oop from Jamie Gooding in the final minute of play to please the jam-packed Peekskill stands. Sans Watts, the win looks even more impressive. Seeking revenge against Wings, who handed Peekskill its only loss in a 28-1 season two years ago, might foreshadow a rare perfect season in the ‘Skill. The Slam Dunk tournament from Dec. 27-29 is the Red Devils’ to lose.

2) Briarcliff (5-0) — Da Bears will get to prove their mettle on Westchester’s biggest stage at the Slam Dunk. Are they a legit top 5 team in all of Section 1? Taking on Jamesville-DeWitt in the opening round should be very telling. Section 3’s DeWitt, led by 6-10 Colgate bound Nick Pascale, is currently ranked second in the Class A New York State Sportswriters Association poll behind only Peekskill. I’d assume Garth Muratori would have a heck of a time trying to front him on defense.

3) Panas (4-2) — Rough loss to Poughkeepsie at home. Keeping it respectable against Peekskill on January 3 will be a moral victory in itself. Panthers will take some lumps as they navigate through the extremely difficult League II North, but they will be better for it come playoff time. Hence, I am already labeling them as a sleeper in Class A to make a playoff run.

4) Lincoln Hall (6-3) — The Hall — with Sir Aaron in early foul trouble — dropped a tough decision to Albertus, 58-46. Still, their early season record is probably better than most thought it would be. The United depend on Taylor and Johnney to provide the lions share of the scoring. If that doesn’t happen (like against Albertus) they are beatable. Finding a solid third option (Laquan Simpson/ Harry Pickney) would greatly enhance this team.

5) Lakeland (4-1) — Following the rough loss to Panas, Weltman’s crew has rattled off two-straight W’s over league foes Yorktown and John Jay-Cross River. Bumping up the intensity in practice and holding all his players accountable seems to have worked on the defensive end. After giving up an average of 60 ppg over the first three games of the season, Lakeland has relinquished a paltry 46 ppg over the past two.

6) Kennedy Catholic (2-3) — Historic collapse against Greeley —blowing an 18 point fourth quarter lead — and losing 67-63 is clearly a tough pill to swallow. The Gaels are in every single game, however, they have to start finding ways to finish them.

7) Croton-Harmon (1-4) — Three straight L’s for Coach Bill Thom’s squad. They showed heart against Dobbs Ferry, nearly coming back from an early 21-10 first quarter hole, but ended up falling, 72-68. Ryan Sawyer, Croton’s assassin from behind the arc, has only four 3-pointers in five games. In fact, the Tigers have only 20 total 3-pointers this season. In order to start stringing together some wins, I feel like they need to start heating up from downtown. That kind of makes this offense function.

8) Mahopac (4-2) — I didn’t see a 20-point loss against Lincoln coming — definitely thought they would have kept it closer or possibly won. Junior guard Mario Iuacone was a bight spot, scoring 17 points. He has scored in double figures in his last three games and leads ‘Pac in scoring with 12.7 ppg

9) Ossining (3-5) — Blowout 20-point win over Beacon is masked by lopsided 24-point loss to Peekskill. Jeff Ward has been quiet of late, averaging only 10 ppg over his last three games — well below his average of 17 ppg.

10) John Jay (1-6) — Slow beginnings and streaky play is becoming an all too consistent theme for the Indians. This team is too talented to be in the midst of a dismal six game losing streak.

11) Hen Hud (5-2) — Quality league win for the Sailors over Beacon. Notching another win against Brewster on Dec. 29 is imperative. Hen Hud’s strong start — which will diminish once competitive league play starts — shows that they would be a real threat in another league.

12) Yorktown (0-4) — You knew that Lakeland wasn’t going to drop two-straight to cross-town rivals. The Hornets took out their frustrations on ‘Town in the form of a 63-38 shellacking. Yorktown is still in search of its first win. January 5 against winless Carmel sounds like a good as time as ever.

13) Somers (1-6) — That win over Putnam Valley feels like eons ago.

14) Putnam Valley (1-6) — That win over Keio emits the same feeling as Somers’ win over PV.

I will have some material on yesterday’s Slam Dunk games (Peek vs. Hayes and ‘Cliff vs. JD).

There will just be a quick few thoughts and two highlight videos.

If you were trying to access the site before and weren’t able to, it is because the sever was down.

I apologize for the error.

Check back later for updates.

Mookie Jones soars through the air before throwing down an alley oop dunk.

Mookie Jones led the Red Devils with 27 points in a 66-55 win over the Bronx’s Wings Academy.

Elliot Watson also chipped 19 points for Peekskill.

Notes on the game

* Ralph Watts was relegated to the bench for the second straight game with a knee injury. Coach Panzanaro explained that the kneed swelled up a bit after being drained and that they had planned to rest him for two games.

* In Watts’ absence, Mookie had his first real dominating performance of the season, scoring Peekskill’s first nine points of the game to build an early lead. He drained two 3-pointers and went a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. His alley-oop dunk from Jamie Gooding near the end of regulation was by far the highlight. Mookie explained that his surge was a result of “not thinking so much” on the court. Wings, who were undersized, had no one capable of guarding the versatile Jones. As a result, he was dominant on the inside, owning the glass and kick starting the transition game. Despite the quite impressive performance, Panzanaro cited that he would still like to see Mookie be a bit more assertive on the offensive end.

* Elliot Watson had his usual strong outing. The senior forward/center owned the paint and was a perfect complement to Jones all day. I say this a lot, but Watson is an underrated big man in Section 1. With a lot of pub going to Mookie — Syracuse, ’nuff said — and Ralph — as a result of his transfer and initial strong play — Watson has kind of ducked under the radar. I saw him outplay the 6-11 Henriquez from Port Chester early in the season and once again saw him as the most dominant big man against Wings. His ability to play down low and run the floor at Brickhouse’s speed is a huge asset to the Red Devils. I just couldn’t imagine this team with a 6-9+ center (that couldn’t run the floor). The chemistry and athleticism that the rest of the team possesses would be completely wasted. Essentially, Watson is the perfect big-man for the Red Devils.

* I’m not going to lie, this game wasn’t too pretty. There were a ton of fouls (35 total) and that really slowed down the pace. Both teams almost looked a little psyched out by the enormity of this contest. Wings also looks to be a little down this season. They didn’t have a real go-to-guy and presence down low, but had a stable of quick, slashing guards. Glancing at their roster, they also seem to be pretty young.

* Karl Baker is Mookie Jones’ cousin. I didn’t know that before today. More importantly, he played a solid game off the bench, chipping in four points and playing sound defense.

* Peekskill has to be happy with the win sans Watts. They are now in prime position to take the Slam Dunk tourney. Mookie — who explained that the squad had never won the tournament — believes that now is their time to take it.

Highlight video still to come …

Lakeland senior point guard Lou DeMello knifes through the John Jay defense in transition.

Lakeland, led by a game-high 23 points from Jason Obmoni, defeated the John Jay Indians, 62-54. Lavor Morris also chipped in 17 points in the win.

Notes on the game

* Lakeland, who are on a two-game winning streak following their rough loss to Panas back on December 17, look to be gelling as a unit. Point guard Lou DeMello explained that practice had been rough — killer drills and lots of running — since the loss to Panas. Well, it looks like it has paid off. The Hornets used their speed and transition game to perfection against the Indians, jumping out to a commanding 37-24 first half lead.

* Lavor Morris and Jason Omboni played exceptional. Without a true post-presence, Lakeland has to rely on these two players to knock down their open shots. When they are on — which wasn’t the case against Panas — the Hornets are a much more dangerous and effective team. If the duo can score in the mid-teens — as they also did in a win over Yorktown — Lakeland has a real shot at winning the League II Central. Omboni, in particular, is a deceptive player. He doesn’t physically appear to be much of a threat, but has the ability to knock down shots from all ranges and also knife into the lane.

* Late in the game with a 10 point lead, Morris put back an offensive rebound instead of pulling it out and milking the clock. After he missed the shot, John Jay’s Anthony Iacomini went down and buried a 3-pointer, cutting Lakeland’s lead to seven, 61-54. Coach Weltman was irate — and deservedly so — at the err in judgment. Morris, who is a phenomenal athlete and player, will learn from every mistake he makes this season.

* John Jay, per usual, stepped it up once they started playing a team game. When Mike Saldutti elevated his level of play in the third quarter, scoring seven of his nine points, John Jay was able to make a valiant comeback, pulling within two, 47-45. It is no coincidence that Drew had his best quarter — scoring seven of his 13 points — when everyone on the team shouldered a piece of the load. Playing from the point guard position, Drew was able to dish to Saldutti in the soft middle of Lakeland’s zone. He was also able to push the transition, displaying his boundless athleticism.

* Now at 1-6, John Jay has to start putting together complete efforts to be a playoff team. You can see they have the ability, but it comes in short glimpses here and there.

I had to see this team already and boy did they deliver the goods. The Indians             (6-0) disposed of a 4-3 Suffern team by a final of 71-46. Even Coach Fioretti admitted that he thought it would be a tighter game, but it was far from that. It was pretty much over at halftime with the score at 36-13 at recess.

Gillian Felix is a dominant inside presence as she dominated the paint and altered tons of shots. Suffern looked completely out of sync on offense and could not get anything going inside. Mahopac forced plenty of turnovers and converted in transition. Everything was falling for them. 

Felix had 20 points, 11 boards, and 7 blocks in the game. She has excellent post moves, can pass well out of the double team, and can consistently knock down free throws as she constantly gets hacked down low. She obviously doesn’t take tips from Shaq at the charity stripe.

Junior Jessie Kavana is the perfect complement to Felix with a smooth outside jump shot. She can penetrate and dish with the best of them. Kavana looks like a basketball player. She has that swagger that every great player has. She finished the game with 14 points. Kavana and Felix are probably neck and neck with Briarcliff’s Coon and Blair as the top 1-2 punch in the North County.

This team is not all about just two players though as they get contributions from everyone. Bari Chavis (8 points, 4 assists) gives Mahopac another strong ball handler that passes very well and can knock down an open jumper. MacKenzy Ryan and Sarah Demarzo (10 points) are both very solid players as well that can score and handle. The Indians also shoot exceptionally well as a team from the foul line.

Four of the five starters have been playing together since the third grade, so they have a myriad of chemistry at their disposal. This team is very young with all five starters as juniors. You would think a lack of senior leadership would hurt them, but the girls seem to be experienced beyond their years. They all can handle the ball and finish. The Indians play in a tough league, but with the start they have had I’m sure they’ll be ready for anything.

Ok, enough ranting by me - I’m sure I’ll have plenty of other good things to say about this team as the season goes on. Time to get the article done. I hope everyone has a happy holiday, a merry christmas, happy hannukah, etc. I’ll be back with thoughts next week on the Slam Dunk Tournament as Briarcliff is participating as well as the Yorktown Tournament.

NCN basketball rankings The following rankings are as of 12 p.m. Tuesday, December 18.

1) Peekskill (3-0) — The Red Devils traveled up to the great big north of Poughkeepsie and came out with the win. Mookie Jones scored 23 points, which is a good sign that he is settling into the team’s new dynamic. Peekskill takes on NYC powerhouse Wings Academy on Saturday, December 22 at home. This is pretty much a must see for all local basketball fans. I remember watching the Elton Brand team back in ’96 as a sixth-grader and it still resonates clear in my head. Right now, with this team, everyone has the same chance to experience that.

2) Briarcliff (4-0) — Westlake was no contest for the mighty Bears. In fact, there hasn’t been a team that has posed a real threat to the Bears yet, as their average margin of victory is 18 points over the first four games of the season. Gulotta, averaging 18.3 ppg, is quietly becoming a first rate scoring option.

3) Panas (4-1) — Pagan, Tucker and O’Leary are turning out to be a light version of Briarcliff’s “Big Three.” Winning on the road against a tough JFK squad propelled them to go on and win their host tournament. Nestled deep in the woods, the Panthers are starting to make some noise.

4) Lincoln Hall (6-2) — I suppose the United have Willie Nelson’s On The Road Again stuck in their heads at this point. I mean, EIGHT straight road games to open the season! This makes their 6-2 record that much more impressive. The United will go as far as the deadly duo of Sir Aaron Taylor and Jamol Johnney can take them.

5) Kennedy Catholic (3-2) — The Gaels offense was offensive in the second half against Panas. But I have a strange feeling we haven’t even seen the half of what JFK has the ability to do this season. Very impressed early on with this feisty squad.

6) Lakeland (2-1) — The Hornets will be competitive this season with senior point guard Lou DeMello leading the charge. Two solid wins to open the season over Rye and Brewster got overshadowed with the disappointing loss to rival Panas. But this team is better than that game and also better than a lot of people would have thought.

7) Croton-Harmon (1-2) — Tipsy turvy start to the season for the Tigers. Losing at home to Lincoln Hall was a tough blow. But this team – assuming Frank Dimaggio is back to full health – will go on a tear at some point this season. Their match-up with Pleasantville on January 4 will be a good vantage point from which to grade whether or not the Tigers are a legitimate playoff contender.

8) Mahopac (4-1) — They haven’t played a game since the win over North Rockland on December 10. Looking at Mahopac’s schedule, they have a shot at winning 12+ games.

9) Ossining (2-4) — Rough, rough game against Tappan Zee. The schedule doesn’t relent much as the season progresses in the ultra competitive League II North. Ward and Drinks need to start clicking to get Ossining in gear.

10) Yorktown (0-1) — Brendan Kurpis’ 31-point effort was for naught against Greeley, as the Quakers won on a buzzer beater. ‘Town has played each opponent tough and might surprise quite a few teams this season.

11) John Jay (1-4) — Head Coach Artie Blank is looking for his team to show signs of life. With Drew and Iacomini, the Indians are far too talented to be losing games to the likes of Suffern.

12) Hen Hud (3-2) — Back-to-back losses to Nanuet and Harrison have brought the Sailors tumbling back down to earth.

13) Somers (1-4) — The Tuskers have lost their last two games by a combined 72 points. The 81-32 loss to the Quakers contributed to most of it.

14) Putnam Valley (1-5) — Five-straight losses for the Tigers.